


sweater weather

by nowrunalong



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-09 23:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3268232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nowrunalong/pseuds/nowrunalong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s chilly at 4 AM when the fire alarm goes off at the Powell Estate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sweater weather

_Eee Eee Eee Eee Eee._

Rose groaned and rolled out of bed, dragging her sheet with her. Was that the fire alarm? What time was it?

4 AM, according to the clock on her nightstand.

Mumbling incoherently, she untangled herself and made a half-hearted effort to smooth out her hair. Blonde knots flattened down before stubbornly sticking back up again. 

If Jimmy had drunkenly set his kitchen on fire again, she was going to kill him. Rose hated being woken up at night.

Still half-asleep, Rose stumbled across her room, grabbing her big red sweater from the end of her bed as she went. Jackie had always insisted she dress warmly at night. Of course, Rose would ignore her on her way out to the club, but tonight she wasn’t taking any chances.

Jackie was over at Howard’s tonight, so Rose didn’t have to worry about whether or not she’d heard the alarm. Pulling her hoodie on over her pink flannel pyjamas and slipping on her trainers, Rose left the flat.

She ran down the stairs, greeting neighbours as she passed them. She held the door open for elderly Mr Huntley when she reached the bottom before striding out across the estate to join the crowd of people that had gathered there. Hopefully Keisha or Mickey or Shareen or—

“Clara!”

Rose spotted the brunette at the far side of the group and rushed over to meet her. 

“Rose! Hey!”

Clara forced a smile through her chattering teeth. She hadn’t brought a sweater with her and her thin cotton nightie wasn’t doing a good job of keeping the cold night air off her skin.

“Where’s your coat, girl?”

“I didn’t realize it would be so cold! It was such a nice day out today. Ugh, what a time for a fire alarm.” She shivered.

“Here, take my hoodie,” Rose said, shrugging it off. 

“Rose, I’m OK. You don’t need to freeze on my behalf.”

“I won’t freeze, I’ve got my flannel on. You, on the other hand…”

With a pointed glance at Clara’s bare arms, Rose passed the hoodie over. Clara eyed it warily for a moment then took it gratefully, pulling it over her head and folding her arms across her chest.

“Thanks. This is a lot better.”

“‘Course.”

Clara’s hair was tucked awkwardly under the neck of the sweater. Rose couldn’t help it; she reached over and gently pulled her friend’s hair up and out of the hoodie where it fell perfectly around Clara’s shoulders. How did she do that? Even when she’d just woken up her hair looked better than Rose’s when she’d spent half an hour styling it (though she didn’t do that very often; Rose liked her hair but she wasn’t too fussy about it).

“Better?”

“Loads.” Rose grinned at her, the tip of her tongue showing through her smile in that particular way of hers.

“How long do you think we’ll have to wait out here?”

“Who knows. It was almost an hour las' time the alarm went off. Took forever for the fire department to come.”

Clara sighed.

“Glad I missed that.”

Clara was still relatively new to the estate. She had moved in after her mother died. Her father had offered her a room back in his flat in Blackpool, but Clara had wanted to continue living on her own. Because she’d decided to go back to school and could no longer work full-time, she’d ended up here. 

“I want to sit down somewhere but I bet the ground is freezing,” mused Clara.

“I wish I’d brought a blanket out.”

“We could sit down anyways, I suppose. We’d warm up the ground eventually.”

“Yeah, alright. But if my arse freezes, it’ll be your head on the line.”

Clara laughed as the pair drifted off from the rest of the group to find a spot on the grass. It was cold, but not unbearable.

Despite her playful threat, Rose sprawled out on the ground without a care. Clara gave her a look before sitting down gingerly beside her and hugging her legs to her chest.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.”

“Sure it was. Look, it’s still clear out! You can see the stars and the moon.”

Rose gestured one hand towards the sky lazily. Clara craned her neck backwards to look in the direction she was pointing.

“Lie down?” Rose suggested. “The grass is nice. You don’t feel the wind as much like this.”

“I don’t want to get your sweater dirty.”

Rose rolled her eyes. 

“I don’t care, I promise. I’m goin' to the laundromat tomorrow anyways.”

Clara pulled the hood up over her hair and reclined slowly til she was lying on her back next to Rose.

“The ground is wet.” Clara wrinkled her nose.

“A little bit,” Rose agreed. “Nothin’ we can do about that, though. And it’s either this or standing on the pavement.”

The other residents seemed to agree. Gradually, more people trickled over to the grass, gathering in small groups.

“One day I’m gonna go… _there_.”

Squinting, Rose pointed up towards a cluster of stars. 

“Can I come?”

“Who else would drive the spaceship?”

“Ah, so I’m your chauffeur?” Clara teased. 

“I was thinkin' more like… hmm. Co-pilot. But— _intergalactic chauffeur_. Not a bad job. I’d do it if I could drive.”

“We’ll start with the moon.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice. We could watch the Earth come up.”

Since she’d started working at Henrik’s last year, daydreaming had become one of Rose’s favourite pastimes. She’d find herself staring off on the bus or when the store was particularly quiet, just thinking about how much she wanted to get away and see the world.

She’d gotten along with Clara immediately. When they’d discovered their common dream of travelling, Clara had lent Rose her mum’s book, _101 Places to See_. Since then, they’d begun to plan imaginary vacations together.

It wasn’t a real escape, but it was the best they had.

Rose rolled over to look at her friend. She always looked flawless. Rose secretly admired her sense of style and the way she exuded confidence. Clara loved herself. She had a direction in life. For all of her carefree and friendly exterior, Rose often wondered if she would ever be able to leave the Powell Estate and if she would ever have a better job. When the answer she came up with was “no”, that was when she felt the most lost.

“You ok?”

Clara had rolled over, too, so that they were lying face-to-face in the grass.

“Yeah. Just thinkin'.”

She met Clara’s eyes. Lying under the cover of night, they looked even darker than usual.

Clara gave her a gentle smile.

That’s what Rose loved the most about Clara. She understood.

She also loved those wide brown eyes.

Rose’s eyes drifted down Clara’s face to her mouth.

She’d never paid much attention to it before, but Clara had a very pretty mouth. Rose decided she loved that, too.

She felt her heart speed up.

What was she thinking? She should probably—

But Clara was still looking at her with that soft expression and Rose found herself leaning her head forwards.

Clara was doing the same.

Rose’s hair skimmed the grass as they moved towards each other until their noses touched momentarily and—

_Whee-ooh. Whee-ooh. Whee-ooh._

The fire truck came careening around the corner and Clara jerked her head backwards. Rose blushed fiercely.

The pair watched in silence as a group of firemen leapt off the truck to inspect the building for signs of smoke. Eventually the residents were informed that it was a false alarm, so they could return indoors.

“Want to get back to—?”

“Yeah.”

Rose stood and offered her hand to Clara, helping her up before awkwardly letting go again.

They walked side-by-side up the stairs til they got to Rose’s floor.

“Well, goodnight then.”

“Goodnight, Rose.”

Clara smiled and continued up the stairs.

Rose had only taken a few steps before stopping, turning around, and running after her. 

“Clara!” she called.

Clara whipped around—her hair swishing behind her, and how _did_ she do that?—to face her.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I still have your sweater!”

Rose faltered.

“Right... yeah. You can wear it back to your place, that’s fine. Jus'—maybe bring it over in the mornin', yeah?"

“Sure.” Clara paused for a beat. “Was there anything else?”

“Nah, that was it."

— 

Clara collapsed face-first onto her bed, unmoving for several seconds before shifting her head to free her nose and mouth from her pillow.

Rose had almost kissed her.

 _Rose_ had almost kissed _her_.

How long had Clara been waiting for this? She’d liked the blonde for months now. Ever since she’d found a kindred spirit—a woman her age with the same hopes and dreams—she’d felt so happy. Every simple gesture from Rose, like the way she’d pull Clara’s hair out from under her collar, fingers brushing her neck… How could she not fall for her?

Clara groaned. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid fire truck.

And stupid Clara, she thought to herself. Why didn’t she say something afterwards? She’d let it go completely. What if they never acknowledged it later? Even worse, what if Rose regretted it?

 _Regretted what?_ asked a small voice in her head. _Nothing happened._

But something almost did, and Clara couldn’t stop thinking about it. She buried her face into her pillow again.

_Jus'—maybe bring it over in the mornin', yeah?_

Lifting her head, Clara checked the clock on the wall. 4:42. Four forty-two was the morning. Perhaps a little earlier in the morning than anyone would expect, but…

Clara wondered if Rose was asleep yet. She hadn’t been back in her own room for very long. 

Although she’d definitely be sleeping if Clara didn’t move quickly. Getting up, Clara pulled off Rose’s sweater and put on her own jacket.

Buttoning up the jacket and hugging the hoodie tight to her chest, she strode across her flat to the door.

—

Rose wasn’t asleep yet. The cold and the almost-kiss had thoroughly woken her up, so she was sitting on the couch with a cup of tea when the doorbell rang.

She desperately hoped it wasn’t Jackie, home early from Howard’s. Rose didn’t think she could handle her mother’s emotions along with her own right now.

She put down her cup and walked slowly to the door, opening it a crack to see who it was. 

Clara.

Rose threw the door open the rest of the way.

“I have your sweater.” Clara held it out with both hands.

“It’s 5 AM!”

“You said to bring it back in the morning.”

Rose stared at her, dumbfounded, before bursting out laughing.

“I guess I did. Well, you’re lucky. I was still up. Just made a pot—would you like a cuppa?”

“Oh, yes please. I’m still chilled to the bone.”

Rose didn’t even have time to overthink before the words tumbled out of her mouth. She'd wanted to do this earlier. She'd gotten another chance.

“I do know another way of warmin' up.”

Clara’s eyes widened.

Before she lost her nerve, Rose crossed the threshold and placed her hands on Clara’s shoulders. Closing her eyes, Clara tilted her head up immediately and met Rose’s lips halfway. Clara was so much softer than anyone Rose had kissed before. After a moment, she pulled away again. Both of their cheeks were flushed pink.

Rose moved backwards without letting go of Clara, who followed her and shut the door behind them with her foot.

The second kiss was even less hesitant. Their mouths parted slightly and Rose traced Clara’s bottom lip with her tongue. She tasted like strawberry chapstick. 

Clara’s arms dropped down and snaked around Rose’s waist, pulling her flush against her body. The hoodie fell to the floor between them. Rose’s own hands moved up from Clara’s shoulders to tangle in her soft brown hair. Rose traced Clara’s lip again before sucking it into her mouth, pulling on it gently with her teeth before releasing it. Clara moaned softly. 

After they’d moved apart the next time, catching their breath, Clara kissed Rose chastely on the side of her mouth before trailing open-mouthed kisses along her jaw. Rose tilted her head back, eyes closed. Clara kissed her neck, moved further, and kissed behind Rose’s ear, nose in her messy hair.

When the brunette ran her hands down the other woman’s back to push up her flannel night shirt, Rose pulled her over to her bedroom. Clara shut that door, too.

— 

_Beep beep beep beep._

Clara reached over and smacked the snooze button on Rose’s alarm clock.

“I’m not going to class this morning,” she informed the blonde.

“Look at you, playin' hooky.”

Rose kissed her nose before pulling back again and pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Rose had been delighted to discover that Clara’s hair was not, in fact, always perfect. Sex hair was undeniably a good look on her, though. 

“Well, who could blame me? Sleep interrupted at 4 AM by a fire alarm. Three-quarters of an hour spent outside in the cold.”

“What a rude interruption.”

“Mmm.” Clara leaned forwards and kissed her again.

When the alarm clock went off again five minutes later, neither of them paid it any mind.


End file.
